Introducing Bree Allison Jones

Our baby girl has made her appearance!  Bree arrived on Monday April 29th at 5:44pm.  She weighed in at 6 pounds 11 ounces and was 19.5 inches long.  (Interestingly enough, all of my babies were 19.5 inches long.)  She was worth the wait!  She has a full head of dark brown hair and deep blue eyes (for now).  She is absolutely tiny and perfectly snuggly.  I can't get enough of her and neither can her oldest brother, Kai.  I think she has us all wrapped around her teeny tiny fingers.  Currently, she is swimming in her newborn-sized clothing and diapers, and I love it.  I wish we could freeze time right here for her.  I love having a new little newborn to love on!

Her birth story is definitely different than my other two kids, which makes it fun.  Each birth has been very, very different.  Bree's probably starts on Wednesday April 24th when I had my last OB check-up.  My doctor had previously told me that I was dilated to a "good 2cm" the week before, and so after a weekend full of strong contractions that were coming right on top of each other for an hour or more, I was sure that I had made some progression.  But again on the 24th the doctor told me that I was at a 2....or maybe a 3.  In other words, no change.  I was frustrated and angry.  After that appointment I had a couple of short periods of contractions, but I wasn't paying any more attention to them at that point as I figured they were ineffective.  I do remember that on Saturday the 27th I had virtually no contractions.  I was impatient and upset.  I had my heart set on an April birthday for this baby and it looked as if that just wasn't going to happen.

At church on Sunday I made it through the passing of the sacrament and then took to walking the halls with Finn.  Contractions had started the minute that the service started and they were relatively strong and coming about 5 minutes apart.  I started trying to figure out what I would do in my head just in case we needed to go.  It certainly seemed that it was a possibility in that moment.  However, after walking the halls for 45 minutes or so, the contractions finally died down and I returned to the normal meetings.  Once again.....disappointment.

Monday morning arrived and I remember getting out of bed and having a decent contraction.  Just one.  That seemed pretty typical for me at that point though.  Standing up or getting out of bed would spur some contractions.  So, I continued about my morning.  About an hour later, right as Reid was getting ready to head to work, I noticed that I was bleeding a bit.  The births of both of my boys were preceeded by this event by 12 hours at most, and so I started thinking that it just might be "baby day".  When Reid finished getting ready for work, I found him in our bedroom and told him that I thought baby girl was on her way, but that since I still wasn't feeling any contractions at that moment (which was unusual considering what was happening) we had a bit of time.  So, Reid called into work and I got the boys moving on breakfast, getting dressed and doing treatments.  An hour later, we were all ready to go if need be, but still contractions were not regular at all.  If I remember correctly, at this point they were about 10-20 minutes apart.  They were strong, but I knew that they needed to be about 4 minutes apart for a good hour before going anywhere, so I figured we still had time.

Sooooo......Reid ran off to Wal-Mart to get some things that had been on my shopping list for the day (milk, jelly, etc.) and I took the boys out to play.  While we were out playing, the contractions continued to get closer together, but still not close enough to head in.  Once Reid returned (an hour later) I headed back in to pack the last of my stuff and time some contractions.  And then I decided that taking the boys on a walk could be helpful.  So I headed back out and we walked over to the water plant next door to take a look at their gardens.  (The boys LOVE doing that.)  During that time contractions got to be about 6-8 minutes apart.  We headed back in and it was lunch time.  At that point I made the decision that we would get Kai off to school and then head in.  I made lunch for the boys and then started making phone calls.  One phone call to a friend to arrange for her to pick-up Kai from school.  And then another phone call to a friend in the ward to have her take Finn for the afternoon.  But still no call to the doctor.

School time came and I had Reid run Kai to drop-off.  While he was out I called the doctor.  Contractions were about 5-6 minutes apart at this time, but were very strong.  When I sat down, though, they slowed down significantly. They never stopped, though.  So, I explained that to the nurse and she said that with third babies you never know and that we should head to the hospital to get checked out.  With Finn loaded into the van we headed to drop him off.  We had to get him into the house and settled and explain his medication.  And then we headed to the hospital.  In the 30 minutes that the whole trip took, I had about 3 contractions.  I was sure we were going to be sent home.  I was hoping we could beg to walk the halls for a bit or at worst get some pitocin to speed things along.

Once in the triage room they got me hooked up and checked to see where I was at.  I think my jaw hit the floor when she told me that I was dilated to a 6-7.  Ummmm.....what??!  That was the same place I was at when I arrived at the hospital with Finn, but that time contractions were 2-3 minutes apart and that ride to the hospital was.....ummmmm......memorable.  So, anyway, we were clearly admitted and my epidural was ordered.  The nurses were in disbelief and asked if I wanted to try natural since I was "doing so well".  Even Reid threw the idea out there.  I, however, was happy to get an epidural before the contractions got too close together.  But the whole time the nurses were in disbelief at how far I had gotten and how I was doing. My nurse even called my doctor and said that I was at a 6-7 but that I "didn't act like" I was in labor.

With the epidural in, Reid and I watched some TV, talked about things we needed to do, and Reid made some phone calls.  He also went to get some food since he had skipped lunch.  At the next check, the nurse said I was at an 8, but that if my water broke we would definitely have a baby.  The doctor wasn't there yet to break my water (I think this was about 4pm), but the nurse whispered that she could do it if I didn't say anything.  I gave her my word and the go ahead.  And then she called the doctor and told her I was at an 8 and that my water had broken.  The next check, however, put me only at a 9 and we found out that baby girl was turned sideways.  And that was slowing things down again.  Seriously, baby girl was taking her time.

The doctor arrive about 4:45 and she said we still had a little ways to go.  So, we continued to watch TV and wait.  At about 5:15 there was another check and I had just a smidge to go.  I could feel baby girl getting close and knew that if they let me push, she'd be there.  But they didn't want me to just yet.  Finally, about 5:35 the nurse asked me to try a practice push.  After that, she headed out to get the doctor and to get us set up.  A bit after 5:40pm I finally got to push!  During the push on the first contraction the doctor worked on turning Bree into the head down position.  And then on the second contraction, she was there.  I was in shock at how quickly it all went.  I seriously pushed for 1 minute at most!  I kept thinking, "Really?  We're done??"  But there she was.

Out of all of babies, the experience after she arrived was the best.  Bree was handed right to me and while I cuddled her they dried her off, but they never took her from me.  I was allowed to hold her until I was ready to hand her over, and that was just awesome!  In fact, I held her for a good 45 minutes before handing her over to get weighed and measured.  I just didn't want to give her up.

Yes, I even ordered dinner before giving her up for a bath.

After she got weighed and measured, she was given back to us for more snuggling and to start nursing.  The whole time she was screaming and crying and the nurses were calling her a little pistol.  She pretty much cried for the first hour and a half straight.  She eventually wore out and fell asleep.  So, I sent the nurse on her way and told her that I wanted to hold her until her next vital checks and that we could give her a bath then.  So, Reid headed out to pick up the boys and take them home and I was left with little Bree all to myself.  At 8:45pm she had her first bath.  I was so excited to see this, as I had not gotten that chance with my boys.  It was so fun to be able to stand there and watch her and just enjoy it.  And then after her bath we headed up to the mom/baby floor.

Holding mommy's hand through her first bath

All clean and warm again

Too cute

That first night Bree didn't eat all that well, but she slept wonderfully--as long as she was tucked up next to me.  Every time I tried to put her in her crib she would wake up and cry.  At 11:30pm my nurse came in and found me still awake and holding her and not knowing what to do.  The nurse was sweet and told me that the safest place for her was in her crib while I slept (which I knew) but that once she walked out that door, I was free to do what I wanted.  I told her I was worried that she would fall, and so the nurse helped me build a little nest that she said was totally safe and then she walked out.  So Bree and I slept well that first night--a good 5 or 6 hours--all snuggled up together.

Bree in her nest

The next morning Reid brought Kai and Finn for a visit.  Kai was very excited and immediately began to oohh and ahhh over her.  Finn, however, was standoffish.  In fact, this first week he hasn't really wanted to touch her at all, but he is more than willing to help pick out clothes or get diapers or other such items for her. As long as he doesn't have to touch her!  Anyway, after their visit Reid took Kai over to school and then came back to enjoy the hospital's "celebratory" meal.  Reid got the surf and turf and I got a cornish hen.  It was yummy considering it was hospital food.  After eating, Reid took Finn home and Bree and I took a nap together again.  And then it was nearing time to go home, so we started to pack our bags and get ready to go.  Bree had a few tests that needed to be done at her 24 hour mark and then we were free to go.  She passed her cardio test with flying colors, as well as her hearing screen.  And then they drew blood for her newborn screen.  She, however, came up borderline on her jaundice test so they decided to run a blood test.  That, too, came back borderline.  The pediatrician allowed us to go home with the instructions to come in the next day.  But those are stories for another post.

Holding Kai's hand

Bree brought her brothers some lizards to play with

The celebration meal--I should have taken the lids off our main courses

Yummy pink and blue cupcake

She's here, she's beautiful and we love her so very much!!

All ready to head home